This invention relates to large, up to 500 kiloton forging presses, and, more particularly, is directed to a guiding arrangement for guiding the relative vertical movement occurring between the frame of the forging press and the other components of the press which are surrounded by the frame.
The present application is closely related to the subject matter described in patent application Ser. No. 821,790 entitled "A FORGING PRESS WITH ADJUSTABLE DAYLIGHT AND WITH YOKE DESIGN FOR ATTACHING TIE-RODS TO CROSSHEADS" which is commonly assigned with the present application. The subject matter thereof is incorporated herein by reference.
As is known and by way of background, forging presses are used for shaping metallic workpieces into end products of desired shape by pressing each metal workpiece between a pair of dies to give it the intended shape.
Structurally, the forging press includes a very large steel frame which surrounds other components of the forging press including lower and upper platens between which the object is forged. There are two main types of forging presses. In a pull-down forging press, the frame is movable up and down relative to a stationary bridge. A lower platen is located on the bridge and supports one die half while a second platen and its downwardly facing second die half are secured to the top of the frame. As the frame moves down, the two dies meet and the piece is forged. The second type of forging press is a stationary press in which the frame is stationary. One platen is supported against one end of the frame and another platen is pushed by cylinders which are braced against another end of the frame to thereby carry out the forging cycle.
The four sides of the frame for the forging press consist of upper and lower crossheads and left and right columns. The columns of the press often consist of multiple layers of tie-rods.
Irrespective of press design type (pull-down or stationary), the columns (tie-rods) are also used for guiding the up and down movement between the frame and other forging press components, such as the platens, of the forging press. The guiding components are important because the frame will tend to misalign in response to eccentric loads. This misalignment may result in overstressing of certain components.